This Week at St. Bart's

August 17, 2016

A Message from the Reverend Andy Dunks

Complain Less, See God More!

I've done a good deal of complaining lately - about the heat, about politics, about my health,... you name it, I can probably complain about it. Fortunately, I've learned to keep most of my complaining in my mind alone and not on my lips, so that when I'm in a bad mood I'm less likely to infect anyone else with it, but still, when I complain, even mentally, I'm missing out on a blessing the Lord has in store for me. I'm probably also missing out on some chances to be proactive rather than reactive.

If you struggle with complaining too, then these words below might be a blessing to you as they were for me. They are from a 20th century monk, recently named a saint, who lived a very hard life, including great physical and emotional pain, but was known for his joy, peace and gentleness:

If you ask a fly, "Are there any flowers in this area?" it will say, "I don't know about flowers, but over there in that heap of rubbish you can find all the filth you want." And it will go on to list all the unclean things it has seen. Now, if you ask a honeybee, "Have you seen any unclean things in this area?" it will reply, "Unclean things? No, I have not seen any; the place here is full of the most fragrant flowers." And it will go on to name all the flowers of the garden or the meadow. You see, the fly only knows where the unclean things are, while the honeybee knows where the beautiful iris or hyacinth is.

As I have come to understand, some people resemble the honeybee and some resemble the fly. Those who resemble the fly seek to find evil in every circumstance and are preoccupied with it; they see no good anywhere. But those who resemble the honeybee see the good that God is doing even in challenging circumstances.

Grumbling is caused by misery and it can be put aside by doxology (giving praise). Grumbling begets grumbling and doxology begets doxology. When someone doesn't grumble over a problem troubling him, but rather praises God, then the devil gets frustrated and goes off to someone else who grumbles, in order to cause everything to go even worse for him. You see, the more one grumbles, the more one falls into ruin.

Sometimes the devil deceives us and makes us unable to be pleased with anything; however, one can celebrate all things in a spiritual manner, with doxology, and secure God's constant blessing.

- Elder Paisios of Mt. Athos

Blessings,

Mission

Our mission is to seek, serve, and celebrate Christ in every person.

We invite the community to worship with us, to share our gifts, and to grow in Christ's love.

In This Issue

Rector's column

This Sunday

African Team Ministries

St. Bart's Day

Bible Study

Shrine Mont

Coffee Hour Sign-up

Spiritual Formation Group

Food Donations

St. Bart's Youth Group

Prayer Request/Answered

On the Horizon

Web Site

www.stbartsrichmond.org

Email

stbartsrva@gmail.com

Phone

804-740-2101

Street Address

10627 Patterson Ave.

Henrico, VA 23238

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 29626

Richmond, VA 23242

Father Dunks's

contact information

Cell: 804-937-7145

dunks.andy@gmail.com

This Sunday

8:30 AM Holy Eucharist, Rite I
9:30 AM Adult Sunday School

10:30 AM Holy Eucharist, Rite II

African Team Ministries Table

The African Team Ministries display table is back, you only have this Sunday

left so make sure you check it out. It is in the parish hall. All purchases go to

the relief of the needy through their local Anglican Diocese.

St. Bart's Day celebration

We will be celebrating St. Bart's Day on Sunday, 8/28 by sharing a potluck
luncheon after the 10:30 service. Please plan to attend and bring a dish for
your family and to share with others. See suggestions for the type of dish to
bring. Use the initial of your last name. A-G - main dish, H-L - side dish,
M-O - dessert and P-Z - drinks.

Bible Study - Outreach

Father Andy is leading a Bible Study every Wednesday from 2-3PM at Little
Sisters of the Poor. Anyone from St. Bartholomew's is welcome to attend.
You can meet Fr. Andy there (just ask at the desk where it will be located)
or you can meet him at the church at 1:30PM if you would like to ride with
him.

Little Sisters of the Poor is located at:

1503 Michaels Rd
Richmond, VA 23229

Shrine Mont---A Place Apart

Every September, St. Bart's reserves a weekend for a retreat at Shrine Mont.
This is our diocesan camp and conference center in Orkney Springs, Virginia.
To get there you take a lovely drive up the Shenandoah Valley.

This year we will be going on Friday, September 23th and returning Sunday
September 25th. We have delicious meals in the dining hall, live in two cottages
and meet for a program and services several times during the weekend. There's
plenty of time for hiking, sports and relaxing.

Look for the sign-up sheet at church or call Randy Oglesby at 272-2136 to ask
questions or to add your name to the list. The deadline is Sunday, September
11th. The cost is about $170 for adults; children 4-12 are $53.00 and free for 3
years and under. Financial assistance is available through the Mike Oglesby Shrine
Mont Scholarship Fund. See Fr. Dunks if you want to be considered for a scholarship.

Come enjoy being with your church family in a very special place.

Coffee Hour

Please consider signing up to sponsor coffee hour after a 10:30AM service. All

you have to do is bring goodies to share, stay and enjoy the company and then

clean up afterwards. This time gives us the opportunity to get to know other
members and welcome visitors.

There is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board.

Spiritual Formation Groups

Adult Sunday School Group

The Adult Sunday School class is now studying "Imagine Heaven" by John
Burke, which is a study of Near-Death Experiences. The author lays out
the evidence that such things are real and not hallucinations, then examines
a wide variety of such experiences from people of all religions and no faith,
and then compares them to the scriptural teachings of the after life. The
book is available from Amazon in print or on Kindle.

Monday Night Group (at St. Bart's)

The group meets on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8PM. They are studying
next week's lectionary texts.

Wednesday Morning group (at St. Bart's)

The Wednesday Morning Group meets at the church for prayer and study from
10:30-11:30AM. They will be taking a break until after Labor Day weekend.

First Sunday Food Donations for the Hungry

We continue to collect food donations on the first Sunday of each month.
If you forget that scheduled collection date, just add your donations
to the box to the right of the door anytime. We are currently delivering
the food to the Lamb's Basket Food Pantry in the Lakeside neighborhood. While
they accept any canned or packaged, food, items they regularly distribute to
each family the following products:

Pasta sauces

Soups

Beans

Vegetables

macaroni and cheese boxes

dry pasta

fruit (they have a goodly supply of fruit right now.)

In addition, they offer choices of juices, staples such as cooking oil, condiments
and a shelf of toiletries, detergents and paper goods. On my last delivery, they
mentioned they were low on baby food.

They would also like to have a steady source of fresh eggs. Due to our storage
constraints, I purchase eggs on the way to deliver the food. If anyone wants to
donate cash for eggs, I would be happy to add that to my donation.

Thank you for your support of this outreach project.

St. Bart's Youth Group

Calling all youth 13 years and older to join our youth group. The meetings
will be held on Sundays at 6PM. We will continue to meet twice a month on
the second and fourth Sundays. Together we will explore the bible and see
how it can apply to our daily life. We will also be talking about how we can
help the church and community.

We would like to provide dinner for the youth group on the Sundays
we meet. Please call Marlaina Knowlton at 804-897-1495 if you could
help with dinner any Sunday. We will place a sign up sheet on the
bulletin board. Please consider helping by signing up. Thanks.

Prayer Request and Answered Prayers

Prayer Requests:

This week we are praying for: Autumn, Audith, Belle, Betty Sue, Betty W.,
Bob, Carole, Cierra, Claudine, Diana, Donna, Ethan, Frank, F.G., Ginny, Harlow,
Hayden, H.B., Heather, Helen, Jane, Jeanne, Jennifer, Jimmie, Joan, John
Thomas and family, Joyce, Julia, Kathy, Kent, Kym, Lexie, Martha Mae, Martin,
Mary Libby, Okpil, Paige, Paul, Rebecca, Richard, Sarah, Sebastian, Terry, Tony,
Tukie, Vonie.

On the Horizon